The Book of Margery Kempe

Margery’s son visits England. She notes that her son now dresses humbly and speaks virtuously. He credits his mother for his changed manner. He makes pilgrimages to various sites, including Rome, and asks his wife to return with him to England. He informs Margery of his plans via letter, and she prays for the couple’s safe travel, which God ensures. Her son becomes ill soon after their arrival and dies a month later. Shortly thereafter, John Kempe also dies. Margery’s daughter-in-law remains in England for over a year before deciding to return home. Margery prays, asking God if she should ask her confessor permission to accompany her daughter-in-law on the overseas journey. God tells her not to bring it up with the confessor, so Margery believes she will not travel abroad. She is relieved because she fears sea travel.

Margery asks her confessor to travel with her daughter-in-law as far as Ipswich, where she will board a ship. He consents; however, Margery is “continually commanded in her soul to go over the sea with her daughter-in-law” (230). Christ promises to provide for her and guarantees her safety. She consults a friar along the way who tells her she must obey God’s will. Margery boards the ship to the dismay of the hermit that has served as an escort along the way. Some disprove of her decision because of her age while others view it as “a very charitable deed” (232).

God comforts Margery when storms arise during the sojourn to Prussia. He reminds her to take comfort in her faith and his love. The ship lands in Norway on Good Friday and the party spends Easter there: “After the custom of the country, the cross was raised at about noon, and she had her meditation and her devotion with weeping and sobbing as well as if she had been at home” (234). The party sails to Germany the following Monday under good conditions.

Margery stays in Danzig [modern Gdańsk] for several weeks where most treat her well, except for her daughter-in-law. God tells Margery to leave the country, which concerns her because she has no one with whom to travel home along a dangerous route. She meets a man who asks her to join him on pilgrimage to Wilsnack, “where the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is venerated” (235). The man agrees to escort her to the coast so that she may return to England if she accompanies him on the pilgrimage.

However, their departure is hindered when Margery cannot get permission to travel because she is English. She meets a merchant from Lynn, who intervenes on her behalf, and the pair set off by ship before landing at Stralsund. Margery is afraid of the high waves along the way, for which she is criticized.

Margery and her companion travel along the treacherous land route to Wilsnack. The man wants to abandon Margery, but she gently asks him not to “for there was open war between the English and those countries” (237). God assures Margery of his protection. Margery’s weeping irritates the man with whom she travels, causing him to go “so fast that she could not keep up without great effort and distress” (237).

Eventually, illness prevents Margery from continuing. They find isolated lodgings where they are provided a small amount of hay on which to rest. God sends storms to delay their journey so that she can get more rest. They get a wagon to travel in due to her illness and arrive at the “Holy Blood of Wilsnack” (237).

Soon Margery and the man travel to Aachen in wagons. Along the way they encounter a monk and group of merchants who are friends of the man but unkind to Margery. They eventually arrive in an unnamed town where they abandon her: “Night fell around her, and she was very miserable, for she was all alone. She did not know who she could rest with that night, nor with whom she could travel the next day” (240). She meets a group of priests at her lodgings who are verbally abusive and cause her to fear for her chastity, so that she requests that two maids sleep with her that night. Her fear is so great that she cannot rest, and she stays awake in prayer. God commands that she attend church the next day, where she meets a group of “poor folk” (241) with whom she can travel. However, the unclean conditions cause Margery to be “dreadfully bitten and stung both day and night, until God sent her other companions” (241).

Margery meets an English monk traveling to Rome while in Aachen. The two visit various relics in the city. She also meets a “worthy woman” (241) from London who invites Margery to dine with her and treats her kindly. However, after the celebration of St. Margaret’s Day, this woman abandons her and leaves Aachen.

Margery meets a group of English pilgrims with whom she travels. However, she finds it difficult to keep up with them. A friar in the party agrees to remain with her until she gets to Calais, and she soon meets another party of pilgrims in a wagon who allow Margery to ride with them. She leaves them in the next town where she encounters the “worthy woman” again, who treats Margery coldly. Margery knows no one and is unsure of where to go but trusts that God will help her. She meets the kind friar again and they travel together toward Calais: “They suffered great thirst and discomfort, for there were few towns along the way” (244). It is also difficult to find lodging, and Margery is fearful at night “because she was always afraid of being raped or violated” (245). Eventually, the two get to Calais, where she rewards the friar for his help.

Margery meets a kind woman in Calais who welcomes her into her home and provides for her. She meets others from England whom she knows, and they all await a ship to sail to Dover. She eventually boards a ship bound for Dover. Margery asks God to keep her from seasickness, which he does.

Once the ship lands at Dover, Margery cannot find a companion with whom to travel: “Therefore she set off for Canterbury by herself alone, sorrowful and grieving that she had no company and did not know the way” (246). She knocks at a poor man’s door and asks for his help: “He, desiring to do her pleasure in our Lord’s name, fulfilled her desire and took her to Canterbury” (246). Margery rejoices at God’s grace, weeping along the way.

Margery travels from Canterbury to London, where she walks through the streets holding a handkerchief over her face because she fears her critics’ mocking. They spread gossip and jokes about her that reach Margery’s ears. One tale arises while she is dining with some friendly companions. She tells them the story is a false one about her and “they were rebuked by their own decency, humbling themselves to make amends” (148). She reprimands vain and indecent people wherever she goes in London. God thanks her with high contemplation, leading to uncontrolled weeping. Many London clerics refuse her admittance to their churches so that “she went from one church to another so that she should not be tiresome to them” (249).

Margery travels to Sheen just before Lammas Day, where she experiences high contemplation and weeping in the church. A youth, moved by her behavior, asks her why she weeps and tells her of his intention to become a monk. She explains that sorrow for her sins and God’s grace engender her sobbing. Her answer impresses the young man, who befriends Margery. She later attends Mass on Lammas Day, “the principal day of pardon” (250), where she meets the hermit who escorted Margery and her daughter-in-law to Ipswich. He scorns her because she traveled abroad without her confessor’s approval and warns her that she “will find but little friendship when [she] get[s] home” (251). Nevertheless, the hermit agrees to escort her home, where Master Robert reprimands her but the two remain on good terms, thanks to God’s grace.